In one fell swoop, Auburn’s roster fell apart. As Florida put the Tigers to rest, we saw glimpses of disastrous realization. Johni Broome was leaving, and a heap of players were graduating. However, the situation wasn’t as bad as it is now. They still had Tahaad Pettiford, who recently announced that he’ll be entering the NBA draft while maintaining his eligibility, and Chad Baker-Mazara, an essential piece in their Final Four run. However, things got out of hand rather quick for Bruce Pearl and his locker room.

Pettiford’s future at Auburn is still uncertain, but Baker-Mazara? He’s out. The six-foot-seven combo guard, although he struggled with disciplinary issues, was instrumental to the Tigers’ success this year. His length, perimeter defense and shooting helped Auburn get to the Final Four this year. But what exactly led to his departure?

Well, according to analysts, it was a dark and gritty tale of NIL and jealousy! On The Field of 68: After Dark, show hosts Jeff Goodman and Rob Dauster discussed how transfer negotiations influenced Baker-Mazara to leave Auburn. “He was hurt that Keyshawn Hall signed a deal with Auburn, after the season, for double the money.” Goodman said. Apparently, CBM had signed a deal earlier this year to return to Auburn for his last year in college for about $1.1 million. However, Hall, while negotiating a transfer, ended up extracting double that amount from the program!

It must have felt like a slap in the face for Chad Baker-Mazara to see the Tigers offering an outsider so much money, while not giving the same offer to one of their own. CBM’s impact on the Tigers cannot be understated. Even if we look at the last game he played for Auburn, he dropped 18 points on an astonishing 57% from deep! There’s no doubt that he was worth as much as Hall, but Auburn didn’t necessarily see it that way.
According to Goodman, even further bargaining did not pan out. “They renegotiated, and the number that Auburn came up to was not satisfactory for Chad and his camp.” He said, before pointing out a rather strong sign of conviction from Baker-Mazara’s end. “He signed a deal, Rob, in which if he gets out of that deal legally he would have to pay back a significant percentage of that 1.1 million. I’m told it’s around 60% of the deal.”



He Gone....